LOOKING AHEAD

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 December 1943, Page 4

LOOKING AHEAD

MR HOLLAND’S NEW YEAR MESSAGE TASKS & PROBLEMS ORGANISING FOR RETURN OF FORCES. NEED OF STABLE ECONOMY. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. In a New Year message to the people of New Zealand, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr S. G. Holland, says:— “New Year is essentially an occasion for sober reflection, contemplation and resolution. In retrospect, 1943 is by far the brightest of the war years. The progress of our armed forces has brought the peace immeasurably nearer and wo arc now able to look ahead and contemplate the tasks that will demand attention.

“For more than four years we have geared and organised for war but with peace now beyond any doubt a great responsibility rests upon all. of us to gear and organise for the return of our brave men and women to civilian occupations and thus to translate into action those fine phrases with which we farewclled our departing heroes. For more than four years, the armed forces have performed amazing deeds of heroism, endured cruel hardships, and made great sacrifices so that the peace of the world can be assured and that we, the civilian population, may be free. THE CIVILIAN SIDE. “With victory now assured, but with much hard and difficult fighting yet ahead, the civilian side of the war effort still remains tp be done, for it cannot be said that we have, as civilians, suffered much material hardship because of the war. It is true that we have raised large war loans and so on but, in the main, it can be said that the public has more money still left in hand than ever before. It is true there are shortages of goods in certain directions but these are as nothing compared with the shortages in some other countries. For the civilian, the war has been a time of high wages and increased incomes. “The return of our service men and women throws on our shoulders <he great responsibility of organising our economy so as to ensure for them the standard of living and security to which we have assured them they are fairly and squarely entitled. “A large degree of regimentation and State control is inseparable from' war organisation and we, as a people, cheerfully forego many of our normal rights and prerogatives, but with the return of peace great care will be necessary to ensure that our Service personnel do enjoy the great blessings of personal freedom for which they have sacrificed so much. “I believe there are two things the people will demand in future. The first is that means will be adopted to ensure that there will be no more war for many years to come. The second is that the widespread human suffering that is an inevitable consequence of booms and slumps must be avoided. WORK & LIVING STANDARD. “The people are prepared to work and produce the things that give us a high living standard but they do hope for and demand a world that will ensure to them a high living standard ■from a high work standard. It cannot be said that always in the past we have been better off when we have put forward our best production effort. “In the main this has been due to New Zealand’s inability to be sure of stable disposal prices for her goods after they have been produced. New Zealand cannot cut herself off from the rest of the world, for we need too many of the world’s goods to do that. There is no greater need in the future than to organise for the disposal of our exportable production at prices that will ensure our ability to purchase raw materials and goods which cannot be produced here. “We have promised our service men full employment at good wages and under good conditions. They are entitled to a much better standard of living than many of them can experience now, and at lower cost, too. A GREAT OPPORTUNITY. “The period of reconstruction is, notwithstanding all its problems and complexities, a most interesting opportunity to organise a more stable economy, a higher standard of living, a better moral code and a new order based on Christian principles. “These things depend on ourselves and the extent to which we are prepared to work and to submerge self in the common interest, to practise tolerance and goodwill and to be the moral and spiritual example to our families and our neighbours. A better world means better human relations, nationally as well as internationally. “Nd Government can take the place of the people in these things. No Government can give to the people anything it has not first of all taken from the people. ‘•I extend to everyone my cordial good wishes and hopes that on this New Year occasion we will all resolve to pull our weight in the boat and put our New Year resolutions into practice. I express the hope that peace will soon be won and, with God’s help, the public wealth, peace and tranquility of the Dominion may soon be restored.”